Noctaem

IE mod allows you to respec any character you want as has been mentioned and it's not buggy at all. It worked perfectly well for me. Some of the auto-level picks they choose are trap options that no character should take. Pardon me for preferring not to have to deal with that...

You want the minimum amount of characters in melee combat because of the difficulty and amount of incoming damage. Your chanter and Fighter are already going to be taking crazy amounts until they level up. Honestly, I would switch things around a bit. 2 Fighter tanks in front. Chanter switched to gun chanter for the chant that gives faster reload and attacks. That way it'll give your ranged DPS more attacks and the cipher more focus which in turn = more spells. Arbalest or Gun Cipher. Arbalest or Gun Priest, you can make good use of the buff/debuffs but also the wards they can place on the ground which are long range AOE trap equivalents. You can also place them in combat on top of your fighters. Very high damage and interesting effects. I'll leave the last slot open but there's options here... Paladin for the aura that gives +accuracy, +crit and various support stuff including a per encounter REZ. Paladin is a kill steal class, it's designed to last hit opponents and give massive benefits from doing so. Mainly, high amounts of Endurance in an area of effect around them to all allies. Or you could go for a rogue, sneak attack pumping out damage as well as a character which can get a high mechanic skill easily which will provide you with detection/recovery of traps. Make it a ranged rogue to gain the benefits of the chanter. Here's some guides: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCGSnd6gOXMgFuKvNXXFXZsw The guy knows what he's talking about.

Hold-Wall, the Arbalest, is sold in Guilded Vale by the town smith and not in Defiance Bay.

Sorry but I don't agree with most of what you just posted. Maxing INT is required for a class with AOE spells. Saying that you can't reach both front and back lines and then using that as an argument not to max INT on a chanter is just silly imo. I'm currently running a chanter as my main and I don't have this issue. Positioning is simple to achieve. You don't need 2 tanks, you need 1 and possibly an off-tank. If mobs break through it'll be at the start of the fight. So depending on summons that you need about 15 seconds or more to get to stop those mobs isn't realistic. I've posted a link above to a few chanter builds. What you describe seems to be one of them but I would recommend you watch the video to better understand the class we're discussing. Chanters are easy to screw up. They are not simple to make. Once properly made however, they are easy to play since they don't require much macro.

I found this guide that contains multiple different builds and styles of play. I think it would be valuable to share. www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZP8blpf4qps

I found some guides that I think would be worthwhile to share. This one is for the Priest but there are more. www.youtube.com/watch?v=DpQlk-P1KAE

What talents would you recommend for him then in a party like mine? Are things like Triage to heal HP worth it?

Hello all, I would like to get some help on how to properly level up Durance. I would also like to get an idea of what his items should revolve around. I am new to the game and played till level 5 but then restarted. My party is currently: Main = Chanter focused on off-tanking and chants. 3 Might, 4 Dex. Party face role. All other ability scores maxed. Working very well so far. Tank = Eder. Used the respec option with IE mod to get him focused on what I wanted out of him. Working very well so far. Melee DPS = Paladin. Custom made to be a last hit buffer with auras who's all about damage with reach, two handed weapons. Working very well so far. Ranged DPS = Cipher. Arbalest user and damage dealer extraordinaire. Broken strong so far. Caster = Aloth. Respec option used here as well. Working on getting him all the spells for utility. and finally my 6th slot is going to Durance for now. He's used because Holy Radiance can be used outside of combat to buff pre combat and it can also grant a bonus to accuracy. Priest buffs are also incredibly useful. However that being said, I need help to figure out where to go with him. Currently just hit level 4 so a talent is available. Now for some questions: 1. Is upgrading his staff worth it? What weapons should I use with him to keep him useful? 2. What talents should I grab as a priority at this point? Thanks to all who post. Noc

Right the issue with Paladin is that it's not the best tank, it's not the best support class and it's not the best damage dealer. So essentially the class must find a role in your party that mixes these things or sacrifices one to focus on the other two. Focusing on tanking means that you sacrifice, depending on difficulty and investment, support and damage. If you sacrifice damage, all the abilities that trigger from last hitting something will basically never happen. Let's face it, the rogue pumping out sneak attacks or the cipher spamming mindlance is going to be doing that! So that leaves you the support role. Lucky for the Paladin, they do have good options here. Focusing on damage dealing means that you don't have a reliable tank on the front lines. Depending on group composition and difficulty level, this might not even matter. However if you need a tank, a fighter is just the logical choice. Paladins instead can focus on damage and last hitting which grants multiple benefits to the entire party and the per encounter abilities / auras. I like to believe that the best status effect you can give is "dead". So imo, I would never build a Paladin as a tank, it's just counter productive for some of the best features of the class.

https://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=paladin+guide+pillars+of+eternity These videos should give you lots of information. Also if you're going to pick up lots of stuff that gives you +deflection, you aren't focusing on being a damage dealer. If Eder is your main tank, let him focus on getting that stuff. You should instead focus on getting the damage oriented stuff on your paladin. Sure give him items that boost deflection if you want, but imo you should focus on more important things with your talents.

Build please! Screenshots of character sheet and general build progression would be awesome. As well as current gear if possible.

From what I understand so far, Paladins can be used as tanks. However, they have many abilities that revolve around last hitting which then grant massive amounts of endurance to everyone in the party within range. They also have accuracy boosts, healing and so on as others have said. This makes them very very good melee warrior off-tanks imo. Now if in order to make them competitive, you have to completely focus on tanking abilities, your odds of being able to properly trigger endurance granting stuff is going to be fairly limited. You're sacrificing melee effectiveness for damage soaking. So I feel that one of the more important reasons to have them in the party won't be efficiently achievable if you aren't focused on damage dealing. The endurance you can return to your party via the paladin can be quite a big chunk per kill, something like 40 endurance with minimal investment to everyone within range. It seems to me that the best use of the Paladin is to have them focus on damage dealing and let them be an extended melee reach combatant, using a Pike for example. Stick them behind your tank, the fighter, and let them go to town while providing very solid benefits for anyone within range with minimal macroing (just make sure they last hit mobs). Perhaps a middle ground could be found on easy and normal mode. TL:DR Figthers are the best tanks because of their inherent abilities. Some of the best Paladin abilities are much better suited to being an off-tank or damage focused melee combatant who stands behind the fighter offering support and damage in various forms.